try and explain this one

When I was a little boy growing up in Canada, anytime my parents said road trip, I was always the first one in the car ready to go. I knew from experience that a road trip was going to be something special, not one of those trips to a place with hundreds of tourists ready to ruin your trip. My mother loved to travel especially to places off the beaten track. That’s where the adventures begin and we experience the unusual happenings.

I remember one time going to Niagara Falls, definitely a tourist trap spot of all times and although we checked out the falls, we went to another cool place not too far from there, the Welland Canal located in a near by town called Sarnia. Not too many people get to see the big ocean going vessels go through a series of locks which take them from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie or vice a verse. Although I appreciated the falls and still remember the times, the trip to the canal made a bigger impact on me for the rest of my life. We were invited onto one of the ships and to experience part of the process from a different prospective. For many a year to come, this would be my philosophy in travel and followed it for many years. I had forgotten what’s really important to me, my philosophy in traveling and whenever I went on a fishing trip, I was always in a hurry to get to my destination. Having unusual experiences as a younger man getting from point A to point B was no longer my priority, getting there was. I missed a lot of experiences I might have had, had I kept up with my philosophy.

Once I began painting landscapes and nature scenes, the priorities of travel slowly came back to me. I no longer rush like everyone else to their destination, instead, I look for signs leading me to some really cool adventures. I would have never thought that I’d be looking for this at my age of 66. It all just happened as I was seeking for ideas for paint projects.

Earlier this summer while on a trek for ideas which took me around Lake Michigan and even to the southern shores of Lake Superior, I came upon some great adventures, just because I decided to get off the beaten track and see what else I can find. When one is in the north woods, one never knows what may be just around the bend or down an old logging road. I made it my priority to check out areas which might add to my collection of experiences.

I was headed towards Copper Harbor which is located at the top of Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I’m a Yooper at heart and have traveled to the U.P. for the last thirty eight years on fishing trips. I was somewhere between Hancock and Calumet where I had just experienced something really weird at a boat launch site. I didn’t realize that it was going to get even weirder once I got to Copper Harbor. I had taken an old beat up road from the main highway which was to take me to the launch site so I took it. After that strange happening, just about a mile or two after stopping to grab some lunch, I came across another road sign pointing down a paved road which would take me to another boat launch. I had no clue how far down it may be or if it was an access site for a lake or a river as the sign didn‘t say. Either way, I was sure that I would get some great photos and ideas for my paint projects so I decided to see where it took me. I might point out that I had no Michigan map as I never needed one before. I’ve always just followed my feeling and a compass.  According to the compass in my truck, I had just turned south.

I drove and drove for several miles looking for some sign for the access site. There was nothing at mile three nor were there any side roads along the way. Nothing in the way of a sign at mile five nor seven. At mile eight on the right I saw a sand/gravel road. I decided to follow it. I followed it for another five miles heading west. I came upon an access sight sign pointing to the right and made my turn. I was now headed north on a single lane dirt road that was overtaken by weeds. It was one of those winding roads that took me into the thick of the woods with the weeds swiping my side view mirrors. I drove for about 500 yards or so and saw the lake just ahead through the trees.

painting of the lake

When I got to the lake, I noticed that it wasn’t that big but it sure was pretty. There wasn’t a parking area so I just parked where I felt like. There wasn’t anyone around and when I got out of my truck, I couldn’t hear a sound, not even the birds. There was no wind rustling the leaves on the trees. It was dead silence. I thought that it was odd because usually one can at least hear birds or crickets. The weeds were pretty thick all around me, I was in my shorts, so I changed into my jeans, put on my boots, a long sleeve shirt in case of ticks and was ready for action. I noticed that the lake was down a steep hill with several tree tops and bushes in view. There was an island with some trees n the middle of the calm lake. There were no houses or any signs showing that anyone had been there in quite sometime. I pulled out my camera and took several photos.

For some odd reason I pulled out my cell phone to see if there was a signal in case of an emergency. Nope, it was In sleep mode to save on the battery. I thought that it might be a good idea to stay in view of my truck so I wouldn’t get lost in the area. It was a bit weird being in a desolate area by myself especially with dead silence all around me. I just figured that it was part of nature and left it at that. I soaked in the view and the silence for about an hour and headed on out. When I got back on the road I came in on, where I was now headed back east, about an eighth of a mile into my drive, there was another dirt road and a sign on my left which said; to hwy 41. This was the main hi-way which I was on earlier headed to Copper Harbor. I thought to myself “that’s just weird, I didn’t see that road nor the sign coming in.”

Since it was where I needed to go, I turned left, once again heading north according to the digital compass built into my dash. I drove on the road with no one in sight, just the thick of the forest all around me, for about three quarters of a mile, when I saw a paved road in the distance. My digital compass point was, still mind you, north. When I got to the paved road, after stopping I saw a sign pointing left to hwy 41. I decided to take another gander at my compass and now it’s telling me that I’m at the stop sign headed east. What? There were no turns and my compass showed that I was headed north just a few seconds ago, how is that possible?

I turned onto the road and looked at my compass. It showed I’m headed north again. Here’s where it gets even more weird. I could see hwy 41 in the distance less than a quarter of a mile and when I got to the intersection, I noticed that I was on the same road I took earlier looking for the boat launch site. The sign was missing. Wait, what? Did I not drive for miles headed south and then west to this lake and now in less than five minutes from there I’m back where I started from? Was I just hallucinating the whole thing? Maybe my camera had the answer so out it came and took a look to see what was on it. There they were, the pics I took of the lake.

When I got to Copper Harbor later in the day and after securing a motel room on Lake Superior, I decided to connect my lap top to their wi-fi, fire up my Google Earth program and see if I can find these two lakes. I was more curious about what transpired in this story since it was just too weird. I spent a few moments trying to find the two areas in question with no luck. I decided to check it out more later in detail, but right now, I wanted to enjoy the view with a couple of glasses of wine.
I never did find that particular lake, but I did find the road which took me several miles south where according to Google Earth, there was an airport and a small lake just east of the road. The little lake didn’t look like anything I saw and was much smaller. At the end of the road was Torch Lake.

An Honest to Goodness Review of the Cordoba C7-CE CD Guitar

I purchased the nylon/acoustic/electric guitar from Musician’s Friend back in 2014. Had I know that it was made in China, I would have never purchased it. From experience I know that most of the musical instruments made in China are cheap garbage and retailed at a much higher price than what they are actually worth. I don’t think that this guitar is worth what they’re asking for it. If you take it for what it is; an over priced but good looking and another made in China musical instrument, then you may like the Cordoba C7-CE CD Guitar.

When I received it, it was packaged very well and in one piece. I did have to adjust the neck as it was slightly warped probably due to the weather. I also needed to make some adjustments for easier fingering as the strings were way too high from the fret board. I’m not going to waste time and write out the specs on it as you can probably find them at musiciansfriend.com. I personally don’t like purchasing musical instruments through the internet because you never know what you’re going to get. Every instrument is different even if they look identical. Each instrument plays slightly differently with different nuances and one may not be suited to your playing. Even the tones can vary especially on an acoustic guitar. I prefer to play an instrument first before acquiring it to make sure that it’s going to work well with my style and expertise as a musician. There’s nothing like purchasing an instrument that’s just not going to work well for you. It’s just going to sit there after you spent some hard earned money.

The reason I purchased mine was because I needed to replace an old Yamaha G100A nylon string guitar that I had used for recording for many years. It would no longer stay in tune no matter what strings I put on. It would go out of tune while recording. There’s nothing worse than having to re-record parts because they are out of tune. When I saw a video of someone playing the Cordoba, which by the way sounds much better than the actual tone of the guitar I received, probably due to manipulation and expensive microphones, I figured that it would work for what I needed to record.

I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised after plugging it in to my custom made guitar amp. The tone on it was even better than I imagined after fiddling around with the controls mounted on the guitar. The pickups are extremely sensitive and pick up every little sound., even ones you don’t want. Playing it unplugged was okay but I wasn’t impressed by the tone quality that much. It’s as expected from a very thin guitar.

Just for kicks, shortly after it was in my hands, I tried recording a smooth jazz tune with it only to find out that the thing kept going out of tune. The tuners look impressive but still slip. I know that nylon strings have a tendency to go out of tune but this was ridiculous. It was no better than my old Yamaha. I replaced the strings with hard tension ones which not only did I get a better tone, they stayed in tune much longer.

I had recorded the instrument using its electronics and plugging it directly into my computer. It sounded like crap. I built my computer specifically for recording, mixing and mastering my music so I knew its capabilities. I’ve recorded my Goya semi acoustic/electric and other instruments for jazz and they came out great. It was not just one of those cheap PC’s purchased from Walmart.

I then tried recording the guitar using its acoustics only to end up with a lot of boom/low end. I used a cardioid directional mic, specifically for recording. I even tried using a direct line and a mic. with no luck. I tried recording it using an amplifier/mic and a direct feed from the amp with no luck. The sound I got from my amp was fairly decent but not what I was looking for in a recording for smooth jazz. I guess after being a musician for almost six decades, I’m a bit fussy regarding my sound.

It wasn’t until I decided to use an old trick I discovered years ago regarding cheap nylon acoustic guitars, that I finally found something close to what I was looking for in sound. I stuffed the hole with some old T shirts and then recorded it with a single cardioid mic about half way up the fingerboard.

Over all, I’d say, after a few years of playing on it, that it’s an okay guitar that can handle light playing. It’s great for beginners and intermediate players. For gigs, I’ll run It through my custom amp but only use it on six or seven tunes because it’s a pain in the ass having to retune it after every tune. I don’t have that problem with a better quality guitar in the same style. If you are a serious musician and need to do a lot of gigs or recordings with it, invest in your sound and get yourself a better one. Below you can find a few tunes I recorded using the Cordoba.

A Twilight Zone moment perhaps

I was on my trek thru the north woods when I came across a boat launch sign up ahead on the left. I slowed down as I wanted to check it out as I’ve done several times during my trip. Boat launch sites are access sites to either a lake or a river which tells me that it’s a good bet for some really nice landscape photos. The road to the launch site wasn’t really a road but just a narrow path hardly ever used. It was just wide enough for me to get through the thick of the forest. It seemed to me that this was a launch for perhaps canoes only, as the path was a bit rough for anything that had to be hauled on a trailer. There was no way for me to move over if another vehicle came from the direction I was headed for. It seemed to last forever as I slowly moved forward. There were no signs stating how far I had to got and turning around was not an option. Backing out may have been a bit tricky so I had to keep going ahead. I knew that the area had bears, wolves, deer and moose and expected to see some of the wildlife at anytime.

I came to an opening about a quarter of a mile into my drive and then the lake.

a painting of the lake

There wasn’t a traditional boat ramp or parking one would find on most lakes, which confirmed my feeling that this was a canoe launch area. I parked my truck and got out my camera. It was a beautiful spot In the middle of the forest seldom visited. I took several photos and then noticed a young man, perhaps in his mid teens sitting down by the water. I thought that it was odd considering I didn’t see anyone around when I pulled up or when I got out of the truck. There were no other vehicles nor a bicycle around. Perhaps he walked there from the highway.

I walked over to him and said “Isn’t that a beautiful and serene view?”He just sat there staring at the water and didn’t answer. I was going to walk away but something inside of me made me ask him “Are you okay?” He turned his head towards me and mumbled something, something I didn’t understand. I walked over to my truck and grabbed a lawn chair, a sandwich and a bottle of water out of a cooler and sat near him. I asked him if he would like to share a sandwich with me and a bottle of water. Once again he mumbled something which I didn’t understand and then walked over to him and handed him half of my sandwich and a bottle of water. The young man scarfed that thing down like there was no tomorrow. He was hungry. I gave him the other half of my sandwich also. He ate that just as quick and drank the bottle of water.

The young man sat there quietly for a few moments, looked at me, smiled,  got up and said “thanks”. He then walked to the edge of the forest and vanished. I thought to my self and even spoke out loud “that was weird!” I decided to stick around for several more minutes soaking in the view and enjoying the peace, beauty and solitude before heading out to find another launch site and somewhere where I could grab some lunch.

It took me about six hours from where I was to get to my destination. Normally the drive would have only been about two, but I wanted to stop by every access site even if it took me several miles off the beaten track. It was well worth it! When I finally got to my destination for the day, I was able to secure a motel room on the shores of Lake Superior. I was at the top of Keweenaw Peninsula, U.P. Michigan and a matter of a few feet from the water. The view was spectacular even from the room itself as it had large patio doors overlooking the lake.

view of Lake Superior from my motel room

There were chairs just outside and after settling in, I went out with a bottle of chilled wine, taken out of my cooler that was in my truck, a wine glass and sat down. I had brought them along for a special occasion such as this. I poured myself a glass of wine and began to place the bottle on the ground next to me when I heard someone say “yes, it is a beautiful and serene view !  When I picked up my head after placing the bottle of wine on the ground, you wouldn’t believe who I saw standing next to me. It was the young man I met earlier in the woods. He smiled, turned around and walked around the corner. I tried to catch up with him and when I turned the corner of the building all I saw was a couple of ducks walking away.